THE RELATION OF PROPERTY 10 THE 
- SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. 3 


BY oe D. FIELD, | 


oF THE ROCK RIVER GON tacts slept 


a ~ Cincinnati: 
‘a PRINTED Ar THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN. 


—_— 


B. Pp. THOMPSON, PRINTER. 


Nile 3 
ah pee. 


THE 


Helt-Hand Power of Christianity; 


OR, 


THE RELATION OF PROPERTY TO THE 
SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. 


Awbag eis Maxsoomar, Bondnoov jury. Acts xvr, 9, 


BY A. D. FIELD, 


OF THE ROCK RIVER CONFERENCE, 


Gincinwytt: 
PRINTED AT THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN. 


R. P. THOMPSON, PRINTER. 
1856, 


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PREFACE, 


Tue grace of God, the influence of the 
Holy Spirit, and the preaching of the word, 
must ever be the chief instrumentalities, or 
right-hand power of Christianity. But aux- 
iliary to these, and in full companionship 
therewith, we must place the moneyed “tal- 
ents” of our men of God. Hence, we shall 
not be accused of using an unmeaning term 
when we denominate property the left-hand 
power of the Gospel. 

The work which we here present to the 
reader, is called forth by the “revival” of 
the work of benevolence in the Churches at 
the present time. 

For many ages the hearts of men, in- 
thralled by rites and mummeries, did not flow 
out in streams of beneficence beyond the pre- 
cincts of their own homes. Luther threw off 
the thralldom and mummeries of Popery, and 
led the people to liberty in Christ. Ae 


4. PREFACR. 


and his coadjutors developed more fully this 
liberty, and painted, in lines of living light, 
the privilege and duty of a new and holy 
life. Since then the sanctifying power of 
grace has béen diffusing like leaven m the 
hearts of Christians. Now that salvation 
which has raised them to newness of life has 
begun to direct their eyes abroad. There is 
throughout the length and breadth of the 
Churches a perceptible decay of selfishness 
and corresponding growth of benevolence. 
Men, moved by the Holy Spirit, have gone 
out to labor in the vineyard, preaching the 
Gospel to every creature; and now the ques- 
tion of the sustenance of these men of God 
comes back to us for solution. The spirit of 
the Christian age is being revolutionized; and 
we would add a breath, if possible, to the 
expanding influence which is now opening the 
hearts of the people. There is a hopeful 
outgushing of Christian feeling, which this 
pamphlet is designed to promote. It aims to 
explain and enforce the duty of Christian be- 
neficence—beneficence large, systematic, and 
Scriptural. 

To this purpose the author dedicates his 


PREFACE, 5 


effort; and especially to the benevolent mem- 
bers of CLARK-STREET CHURCH, CHICAGO. 
Upon these brethren, with whom the author 
was trained up in the nurture and admoni- 
tion of the Lord, and upon this effort to do 
good, he asks the blessings of the great 
Head of the Church. 


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Che Left Hand Potwer of Christianity. 


CHAPTERT. 
THE CALLS FOR BENEVOLENCE., 


Sryce man has fallen from the image of 
God, and lost his hold upon heaven; since 
he has broken the chain of love that bound 
him to the throne, God has used every means 
to restore him to his lost estate. A great 
scheme of redemption has been devised, and 
ample means of salvation placed in man’s 
reach: while such provisions have been made, 
God has committed to men—men saved by 
the power of this salvation—the soul-enno- 
“bling privilege of being agents in the work 
of the Lord, and of bestowing back upon 
their fellows what they themselves have re- 
ceived from the hands of God. 

God, in a word, has made men his agents 
in the great work of reopening the sin-closed 
Eden of purity and love on earth, ins re- 


8 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


storing men to God and heaven. Charity, 
or love—as the word should be—is the great 
propelling power which moves men in this 
work. Charity should begin its mission at 
home; then spread abroad like the blaze of 
sunlight, till it compasses the whole world. 

Let us look for a moment at some of the 
fields of labor which open before us—fields 
already white unto the harvest. 

1. Our youth need the culture of the Gospel. 

Many have seemed to think that nothing 
more is necessary in saving sinners than to 
let them grow up in any way they please, 
and then be gathered into the Church at some 
revival season. This is by no means sufh- 
cient. Men are subject to culture, as much 
so as the plants of a garden. Men’s hearts 
are like the fallow soil. If let alone, weeds 
and tares will take the ground. If fruits 
are ever gathered, there must be sowing and 
culture. The little hands must be clasped 
in prayer, the mind enlightened, and the 
heart molded. ‘There must be continual cul- 
ture that virtues may grow, and evils be 
exterminated, and religion find a genial seat 
in the youthful heart. Next to home and 
a pious mother’s prayers, the influences of a 
Sabbath school are most blessed of God to 
the good of the young. The Sunday school 


THE CALLS FOR BENEVOLENCE. 9 


is being made a great engine to stay the tide 
of evil, and spread salvation. 

Many are apt to conclude, when multitudes 
come into the Church at revivals, that they 
never were the subjects of conviction before— 
that the Spirit then and there visited them 
for the first time. Often all the credit is 
given to the man who is the particular agent 
in carrying on the revival, when most of the 
credit—so far as instrumentalities are con- 
cerned—will be given by Him who seeth in 
secret to the efforts of pious mothers and the 
labors of the Sabbath school teacher. These 
silent, unobtrusive workings have been pre- 
paring the heart, and the revival only de- 
velops these impressions into active, living 
energy by a happy conversion. In your giv- 
ing, despise not the Sabbath school. 

2. The ministry is to be sustained. 

This is essential to public worship. God 
has ordained faithful men to proclaim the 
Gospel, and sends them forth to labor. We 
sit under their preaching, and rejoice in the 
blessings of the Gospel. Hach one of these 
ministers must leave his means of lying—his 
trade or what not—and go out where, at his 
temporal calling, he can not gain a livelihood. 
He must then lean upon that means of sup- 
port which the Bible promises to the laborer 


10 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


in the vineyard: “The laborer is worthy of 
his hire.” Whenever a society requires and 
demands the labors of a minister, they become 
responsible for his support, and they should 
never evade it. 

In this matter there is one thing not suf- 
ficiently considered. There are on every cir- 
cuit and near every station destitute parts— 
home missionary ground. Here the people 
need the warnings and comforts of the Gos- 
pel; but at present they have not the means, 
or, perhaps, not the disposition, to support a 
laborer among themselves. Christian men, 
shall not the minister go there? And does 
not God call upon you to make up these per- 
sons’ lack of service? 

Though charity begins at home, it should 
not remain there. It should fly abroad, scat- 
tering to earth’s remotest bounds the bless- 
ings of salvation. Dow, when converted, said 
he wanted to fly the earth over to tell the 
people all about the Savior, and then fly away 
and be at rest! The soul lit up by a heavy- 
enly radiance, should uncover and lift up its 
light to the world. 

Every-where there is a call for aid. God 
is sending Europe to our very doors, that we 
may present them the Gospel of peace. ‘The 
Chinaman is coming to California for gold, 


THE CALLS FOR BENEVOLENCE. 11 


where the Christian may meet him with the 
richer treasure of the Gospel, and preach to 
him the glad tidings. 

Looking out upon other lands, what calls 
for help come over to us! Macedonian cries 
come up from the night of heathendom, wail- 
ing out supplications for help. LKthiopia is 
stretching out her hands to us, and may ere- 
long lift up her hands to God. The islands 
of the seas are beckoning tous. Every-where 
the earth resounds with the call for missionary 
help. It is the call of unsaved men. 

I believe God has raised up the Christians 
of America, and the Methodists especially, to 
respond to these calls—to be ever ready to 
rush into these fields as the gates of entrance 
shall open. 

Heretofore the call has not been so great 
as now, since access could not be had to the 
people. Now the fields are open and white 
for the harvest. The revolutions of recent 
years have given a new cast to the senti- 
ments of the people. They—of Europe espe- 
cially—are ready to hear why America pros- 
pers so pre-eminently; and that information 
they will the more readily listen to when given 
by American lips. Our religion has made a 
people of us in this our happy FREDONIA, 
and our religion—the religion of God—they 


12 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


will respect, and, in some measure, receive. 
Catholicism has driven the people to skepti- 
cism, and with their skepticism they are con- 
tinually coming over here, to ruin us with 
their wild notions. Why not send the Gos- 
pel over there—to France, to Germany, to 
Italy—to purify the fountain whence these 
infidelities flow ? 

Germany is especially an inviting field.! 
Germany, it may be said, never had a truly- 
pure Gospel—a pure faith. Christianity was 
not introduced into the Northland till it had 
become defiled by Roman corruptions. Its 
progress was only a political change. When 
Luther arose Germany was in total darkness. 
Superstitions of every kind prevailed, and it 
would have been a wonder if in a lifetime Lu- 
ther should have thrown off alZ the inthrall- 
ments that bound him. All praise to Luther! 
We doubt not God owned his labors on earth 
and crowned him in heaven; but Luther never 
saw the light which we behold. And he had 
no sooner risen than powerful allies joined 
him, and many of them on political grounds. 
After Luther was gone to his God the evan- 
gelical work was staid. Catholicism, with its 
mummeries, gave way to a milder and more 
Bible-like Protestantism; but this .Protestant- 
ism, being used to further political ends, be- 


THE CALLS FOR BENEVOLENCE. is 


came paralyzed, and, being hugged to the 
heart of the state, its light went out, and it 
sank into a form. 

Germany at present contains the greatest 
minds of the age; and many of these, in 
emerging from Church mummeries, have leaped 
into doubt and skepticism. They have run 
into a rationalistic philosophy little above— 
if not below—the systems of heathen Plato 
and Socrates—a philosophy which absorbs and 
envelops the mind, but does not save the soul. 
Latterly they have hailed the moonstruck rev- 
eries of Parker. Surely they of Germany 
need—if any one needs—the pure spirit of 
Jesus to be diffused among them. We may 
say, there are none all over Germany who 
feel the power of grace and redeeming love. 
Shall not this land have the Gospel? Jacoby 
and his coadjutors have gone over, and already 
the German shout of joy has come to us across 
the Atlantic, to cheer our hearts and encour- 
age us in the good work of German missions. 

The Methodists have a conference in France, 
and this is bearing down upon Italy. In that 
region many Catholic countries are becoming 
accessible. We may hope that erelong old 
Rome herself may receive the glad word. 

And there is Africa—poor, downtrodden 
Africa—what shall be done for her? Libe- 


14 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


ria, as all know, is a colony of free negroes 
and emancipated slaves. The Gospel is ex- 
erting its power there, making men of the 
negroes. Liberia stands as a key to all the 
native tribes, and through it the whole land 
may be penetrated with the Gospel of peace. 

China in the past has been nearly a closed 
door; but the doings of afew years past have 
brought about a new state of things. 

What shall I say of the Indian—poor In- 
dian of the wood? We have his lands: shall 
we not at least give him the bread of life— 
the consolations of the Gospel? 


Pity now the poor red man, whose withering fate 
You’ve read long since in many a border tale! 

And now send out to him, before it is too late, 
Some blessing which shail cheer him ere he fail. 


Shall not the yearning heart which missions all the earth, 
Bring in these exiled ones unto our brotherhood? 

Hold out the hand of fellowship; let love go forth, 
And bring him to our hearts, poor Indian of the wood! 
Ay to our hearts, poor Indian of the wood! 


I have glanced at the opening fields. In- 
struments are ready to enter them. Almost 
every Babel tongue of earth may read the 
word of the Lord in its own dialect. 

And men are not wanting. I have no 
doubt that men might be raised up by hun- 
dreds to enter the mission-field. The very 
spirit of Christianity is a missionary spirit; 


THE CALLS FOR BENEVOLENCE. 15 


and so long as there are Christ-loving Chris- 
tians at home, there will be those who will 
be ready to go abroad. 

You have heard of the exclamation that is 
said to have been made by Melville B. Cox, 
our first missionary to Africa. Before leay- 
ing for his work, he went to bid his mother 
good-by. She—O tender-hearted mother !— 
fell upon his neck, and wept out, “O, Mel- 
ville, how can I give you up!’ Whereupon 
he, from the fullness of his heart, exclaimed, 
“OQ Africa, how can I give thee up!” At 
another time he is said to have exclaimed, 
‘Though a thousand fall, let not Africa be 
given up!” ‘That spirit has not yet departed 
from the Church. Though a Cox has fallen 
and gone to his reward, many a yearning 
heart cries out, ““O heathen world, how can 
I give thee up!” 

Brethren, sisters, provide the means; God 
will provide the men. The way in which 
God does this is sometimes marvelous in our 
eyes. Not. many years ago a young German 
came over to America, and here God converted 
his soul. After a time he visited his friends 
in the father-land. It was about the time 
brother Jacoby went over there. Young 
Wunderlich began to tell his friends, in a 
simple manner, what God had done for him. 


16 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


The simple story of the cross took hold upon 
their hearts. He appointed meetings for 
prayer, and in these meetings he would add 
a few words of exhortation. Soon the peo- 
ple began to gather in to hear his experience, 
and, ere he was aware of it, he was preach- 
ing to them—was proclaiming the good news 
of salvation. 

God will raise up men. If they will not 
go out willingly, he will thrust them out be- 
fore they know it. In the days of Mor- 
monism in Illinois, in the county where the 
Mormons resided, the Methodist societies 
nearly all ran down. In one place there 
was a thriving class which was left without 
preaching. Most of the class were young 
persons and females. The leader was a timid 
brother, who took no very active part in 
religious matters. At last the Mormons came 
in on the little class, and were about to make 
proselytes of its members. The hitherto timid 
leader rallied his little band, and talked to 
them in an encouraging manner. Soon the 
Mormons came down on him. He stood up 
like a man, surprised at his own powers, and 
defended the little society against the storm. 
He held meetings and exhorted, till his tal- 
ents became developed and known. ver 
since he has been a useful preacher. 


THE CALLS FOR BENEVOLENCE. mh 


We have, then, access—access to the peopled 
earth; we have the translated word; we have 
the men, or the promise of them; what lack 
we yet? Why, Church of God, the means— 
the means to carry on the Christian warfare is 
what we want. Men have given themselves, 
and hazarded their lives for the promotion 
of the Gospel. Are there not men lying at 
ease at home, surrounded with the good things 
of this life, who are willing to do as much by 
the gift of goods as others have done by the 
gift of themselves? 

2 . 


18 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


CHAPTER II. 
MEN ARE STEWARDS. 


I HAVE spoken of the call for benevolence; 
let us now look at the thing itself. 

The hinge upon which the whole system 
of benevolence hangs is the significant fact, 
that all we have belongs to God. ‘Ye are 
not your own,” but are “bought with a price.” 
I regard man as a being let down upon earth 
amid the treasuries of the Lord. Whatsoever 
any man has around him belongs to God, the 
giver of all our blessings. 

Think, for a moment, of a man eee set 
down in ate midst of np and surrounded 
with all the glories of the upper world—the 
trees of life; the river, the streams whereof 
make glad the city of God; the golden pal- 
aces, the mansions of light, the harp and 
the crown—and then to think of this man, 
so highly blessed, refusing to God any of the 
riches that are there! ‘Think of a man hoard- 
ing and clutching the glories of heaven! 

Niggardliness would be as much out of place 
in heaven as love is scarce in hell. And does 


MEN ARE STEWARDS. 19 


not the Christian profess to breathe the spirit 
of heaven? And shall he then keep back 
from God’s cause the things which already 
are the Lord’s? 

It is a very common thing to hear persons 
in a Methodist class-room express the thought: 
‘¢All I have and am, I owe under God to 
Methodism.” What is the meaning of all 
this? Is it mere twaddle? Verily it is not. 
It may be repeated by some till it has be- 
come an unmeaning expression; but, after all, 
there is very much of truth in the idea. Let 
us see. 

A young man is cast out into the world— 
perhaps you, reader—he is poor; he has no 
friends; he is wild and wayward; already he 
has begun to turn his steps toward the way 
of sin. Pleasures allure; dissipation comes 
in. He is hanging fearfully upon that pre- 
carious declivity, down whose sloping sides are 
dissipation, sloth, and crime. Just now the 
Church takes him up. He strays into a Meth- 
odist meeting, or any other meeting, if you 
please; his heart is touched; he gives his 
hand to the Church and himself to God. 
Now he has a home; now he has brethren 
who encourage him and hold up his hands. 
For once he feels he is standing in the great 
arena of time—feels himself a responsible 


90 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


immortal. He enters into business, and, sus- 
tained by religion and religious associations, 
he prospers in the world. He is now sur- 
rounded with blessings; loved and respected 
by all. Well he may say that he owes all 
he is, under God, to Methodism. On the 
one hand, we see him going on as a sinner 
till he becomes a worthless vagabond; and 
on the other, through the guidance of his 
religion, becoming a man in the world. 

Methodism is but an instrument in the 
hands of God; and though the prospering 
Christian may give somewhat of praise to the 
means, yet, after all, it is God—the power of 
his religion—which has done it all. God has 
wrought out his salvation, using Methodism 
as the instrumentality. To God be all the 
glory! Shall we not acknowledge our obli- 
gations by gifts to the cause of God? 

The Christian, whoever he be, stands as a 
God-made man. The path of divine life has 
been the way which has led him on to honor 
and to happiness. In the light of this truth, 
how much, reader—if thou art the man—how 
much of all this which has come to thee from 
the hand of the Lord, how much wilt thou 
return as a free-will offering to God that 
gave it? 

In the light of the Bible, reader, you are 


MEN ARE STEWARDS. ren 


but a steward. Look at the parable of the 
talents. 1. The lord owned all. 2. It was 
committed in trust. 38. To some much; to 
others less. 4. He demanded the returns, 
and called to an account. You, brother, have 
talents. They may be gifts of intellect, or 
great influence, or wealth. Whatever they 
are, be diligent to improve them, for the Lord 
shall call to an account. 

You will say, by your own efforts you have 
gained what youhave. But who gave you the 
mind that has managed, the skill that has 
wrought? and whose blessings upon all have 
increased your store? Answer me, thou pen- 
sioner upon the bounties of the Lord! 

The children, for instance, God gives to a 
man are yet in the hands of the Lord, and 
often he recalls his own. And, Christian par- 
ent, as you look upon the dear ones gone 
in advance, to swell the company of the re- 
deemed, there to await your arrival, say, do 
you wish the loved ones back again? Would 
you pluck them from before the throne, and 
bring them back to the earth’s cold shades? 
Do you not rather often rejoice that you 
have a member of your own family living as 
a representative in the kingdom of heaven? 
Your wealth is—or should be—also, thus at 
the disposal of God; and if it flows out to 


22. LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


bless the world, returning blessings on your 
head, and adding to your final rewards, would 
you bring back again gifts that have been 
dispensed? Would you not rather send out 
more to swell the rolling river of salvation 
which flows out to a fallen world? 


‘‘ See where the servants of the Lord, 
A busy multitude appear ; 
For Jesus day and night employed, 
His heritage they toil to clear; 
The love of Christ their hearts constrains, 
And strengthens their unwearied hands.” 


A TRUE VIEW. 23 


CHAPTER III. 
A TRUE VIEW. 


To a great extent, conversion is turning 
the bent of our natures from a bad, death- 
bound channel into a good and heavenward 
one. ‘The converted man exhibits much the 
same propensities as he did when unsaved, 
only they are developed in a religious way. 
There is much resemblance—and ought to be 
more—between our religious doings and our 
temporal concerns. But im religion we let 
things go too much at a hap-hazard rate. 
We are governed too much by whims and 
impulses. A man’s temporalities would soon 
‘““go to rack’’ if he proceeded in temporal 
matters as he does too often in religious con- 
cerns. In worldly affairs a man would do 
poorly, indeed, if he relied upon chance. 
What kind of a farmer would he be who 
would give way to such hopes as these? “I 
wish some one would sow wheat for me.” 
“J wish some lucky wind would blow grass- 
seed into my lot, that I might have a meadow.” 
“J wish fruit-trees would grow in my orchard, 


24 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


that I may have fruit.” “I wish an angel 
would superintend and mature the harvest.” 

The farmer does not thus. He goes to 
work and sows his grain; sows his grass-seed; 
sets out his orchard. He expects to sow if 
he would reap. 

But many religious persons are heard wail- 
ing out their slothful moan: “I wish a good 
preacher would come along, and preach me 
happy.” ‘I wish there would come a revival, 
that I might regain my enjoyment.” “Ido 
wonder why the Gospel does not spread more 
in heathen lands.”” Why, doleful man, if you 
would be blessed, you must work, and live, 
and labor for your blessing. Prayers, and 
wishes, and heart-sighs are well enough in 
their place; but they alone, according to the 
just economy of heaven, will not convert the 
great monster heathendom. God has given 
this work to you, and will use you and your 
means to convert the world. 

Our benevolent doings are supported in too 
much of a slipshod manner. Many men pay 
a preacher or give something to the mission 
cause whenever they happen to have money 
by them; or, perchance, whenever they happen 
to feel like it! Temporal affairs are not man- 
aged in this way. No, no. If you hire a 
man, you expect to pay him daily wages. If 


A TRUE VIEW. 25 


you borrow money, you make every purpose 
bend toward paying the interest. So it should 
be in religious affairs. Who are ye that are 
just to men, but are forgetful of God? 

The preacher should be paid on principle, 
and all good causes should be supported by 
system. 

The parable of the talents teaches that 
every man has talents, and that these talents 
are on interest. Different persons possess 
different gifts. One has the natural talent 
of mind; another has this world’s goods; 
both possess these gifts as a trust. The tal- 
ented man—as a Luther, a Wesley, or a 
Byron—is amenable to God for the proper 
improvement of the gifts he possesses. The 
same law is binding on the man of wealth. 
At conversion God asks a full surrender of 
every thing; that is, an acknowledgment that 
all belongs to him. And when all things are 
given up—lands, family, fame, self—God gives 
them all back into the hands of the pardoned 
man, with this mjunction, “Occupy till I 
come.” 

The wealth of the rich man is, then, noth- 
ing but a loan. If the interest is not paid, 
fear thou, God-blessed man, lest your pos- 
sessions rust and grow moth-eaten in your 


hands. 


296 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


The world is ready to censure a minister 
of the Gospel if he shrinks from the cross, 
or refuses to go to Africa or the sea islands; 
but what greater obligation is the minister un- 
der, I ask you, to go out than you, man of 
wealth, are to furnish the means to send 
him out? 

I knew a minister who located, and went 
into business, and, in lieu of his own services, 
he paid a preacher’s salary to do the work he 
himself had run away from. This man, I 
presume, had no right, in the Master’s eye, 
to leave his work; but, having left it, he 
judged rightly when he thought it becoming 
him to furnish a substitute. 

God required the first-born of the Israel- 
ites, but took, in lieu, beasts as offerings; so 
God has a demand—an equal demand on 
every man. Of some he asks personal serv- 
ice in the ministry; of others, equivalents in 
the products of business life. 

God needs offerings for Africa. He calls 
out by his providence, ‘‘Who will go?” A 
Melville Cox answers, ‘“‘ Here am I; send me.”’ 

But Melville is poor; he can not furnish 
means of support; what shall be done? Here 
we see the true province of the rich man—as 
a Lunt, a Goodrich, an Evans, or a Waughop— 
as he comes up offering his money, saying, 


A TRUE VIEW. pf 


‘‘ Here, Lord, are thy gifts tome; take them.” 
In this manner the work becomes reciprocal. 

The missionary gives hemself, and the per- 
son of property—as a Marcley, a Royal, a 
Putnam, or a Creamer—gives his means to 
the work. One by the living voice goes out 
proclaiming the glad tidings; while the other 
by hallowed gifts is doing the same good 
work. There is a promise that the sower 
shall “doubtless return again, bringing his 
sheaves with him.” The God-loving, faithful 
minister of the Gospel and the missionary of 
the cross shall doubtless have a large share 
in those gathered sheaves; but they shall not 
be alone in this matter. No. The faithful 
giver, who gives with a pure motive, shall 
bear up to the throne a large portion of 
sheaves, when the great harvest shall come. 
One man gives himself to the work; another 
books and Bibles. Both may look with cer- 
tainty for a reward. 

In London, at one time, there were two 
poor shoemakers working together. They 
both found favor with God, and at once were 
inspired with a missionary spirit.. They looked 
out with yearning heart upon the wicked rab- 
ble of the great city. They felt like going 
about the streets and by-ways of London, 
scattering the good seed of the kingdom. 


28 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


But they were poor, and, if they should quit 
their labor, they would come to want. They 
adopted this expedient: one went out and 
spent his time doing good; while the other 
worked in the shop, supporting them both. 
In this case we see a new way opened. We 
can all be missionaries, both ministers and 
laymen. And, surely, the men of business 
ought to do a good share, seeing they are 
permitted to stay at home, enjoying every 
domestic privilege; while the missionary goes 
out into the storm, facing the foe, meeting 
the pestilence, leaving home, severing the 
dearest ties that earth can know. 

As to each man’s proportion, there can be 
but one opinion. That opinion is found in 
1 Corinthians xvi, 1, 2. If you will be at 
the trouble to read this passage, you will find 
that the contributions were general. Paul 
had given the same order to the Churches 
of Galatia. It is a moral obligation—Paul 
gives order. It was to be done systematic- 
ally; they were to do it on the “first day of 
the week.” 

The measure of their benevolence was “‘ac- 
cording as the Lord had prospered them.” 
The rich were not to measure their gifts by 
the gifts of the poor, but according to their 
prosperity in worldly affairs. 


A TRUE VIEw. 29 


God will accept and dless the widow’s mite— 
and the widow—as he does the much of the 
rich. 

IT have heard of a rich Methodist, who of- 
fered the preacher a shilling, remarking that 
he had made an estimate, and had found that 
the proportion of quarterage to each member 
per quarter was one shilling. Here this pelf- 
burdened and pelf-hardened man was meas- 
uring himself, who had thousands, with widows 
and orphans who had nothing. The same 
man would not let his daughter join the 
Church, fearing their quarterage would be 
increased! Thank God, there are compara- 
tively few such in the Church! And thank 
God once more, that men are on the increase 
whose hearts are large, and who do in a man- 
ner far different from the man just named! 
We are glad to know that men are awaking 
to the truth, that they are God’s stewards— 
God’s agents in bringing lost Eden to earth 
again. 

But let us look more closely at our general 
manner of giving. 

We find the whole concern of our benevo- 
lence is as precarious as the wind. We pay 
when our hearts are besieged with a force we 
can not resist. Who, for instance, sits down 
in his chamber and calculates the amount he 


30 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


ought to give to the mission cause? If the 
man is a merchant, he calculates his figures 
very nicely when thinking of property invest- 
ments; but who enters into calculations con- 
cerning investments in the treasury of the 
Lord? 

How is our missionary money or our preach- 
er’s salary raised? We get up meetings; the 
truths of the case are stated; men feel under 
the glowing appeals of speakers, and under the 
fire-impulse they will give their ten, fifteen, or 
twenty dollars; and then perchance the next 
day, when ardor is gone, will wonder how 
they were led to give so much. 

Other influences than the truth are also at 
work in these meetings. Men often give to 
keep up a reputation; give because excite- 
ment is running high. Bountiful gives his 
twenty, and the niggard Clincher will not be 
beaten by Bountiful, and another “twenty” 
is procured; not, however, as a gift to the 
Lord; not because Clincher’s heart yearned 
over dying heathen; not because he feels 
himself a steward, paying out to God the 
profits of those amounts God has committed 
to his care; but it is paid as a sacrifice on am- 
bition’s altar—paid as a witness that Clincher 
could not brook a rival. Heaven knows the 
mission cause needs all these twenty-dollar 


A TRUE VIEW. OF 


bills; the cause cries out for them; but what 
is needed is that these gifts—good in them- 
selyes—should come as free-will offerings of 
the heart; come as love-tokens from the crea- 
ture to the Creator—love-tokens to our per- 
ishing brotherhood in heathendom. 

The moneyed man, knowing of a prospect- 
ive railroad to be constructed, sits him down 
and calculates how much of his means he can 
spare for investment in railroad stock. Or 
if a merchant, he calculates the amount of 
his custom, the amount of each article he 
will dispose of, and all his orders are made 
out in reference to his calculations, and with 
reference to the profits of each article. If 
he would prosper, all his concerns are man- 
aged in a systematic manner. 

So should our giving be managed. The 
Christian feels that investments in the work 
of the Lord pay. He knows he has a con- 
tinual reward for all he does, and he feels 
that nothing invested in a worthy cause is 
lost. And then with this view, he calculates 
with system his gifts. There are questions 
to be asked in a review of this matter. Lis- 
ten to his musings. ‘How much has God 
given to me? If a man had bestowed upon 
me the property I possess, how much interest 
would I expect to pay? And now how much 


32 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


do I want out in the vineyard of the Lord? 
The preacher is giving himself; not giving him- 
self by impulse, not preaching when aroused 
to it, but every day he is employed for God. 
He counts not his life dear, so he may but 
win souls. Had he refused to go at his Mas- 
ter’s bidding, and gone into business, he might 
have heaped up the world around him as I 
have done. He has talents, and might have 
lived in luxury and ease, as Ido now. But 
he has given the best and greatest of gifts— 
himself! Iam permitted to get gain and to 
enjoy the world. The minister has done no 
more than his duty, and Jam under as much 
obligation as he; andif the minister has given 
himself, how much ought I to give to balance 
the account, and to do as much in my sphere 
as the minister has done in his?” Such are 
the soliloquies of a Christ-like mind. 

And viewing the matter from such a stand- 
point, he looks out the objects for investment, 
and gives according to his means. He feels, 
for instance, that he ought to have fifty dol- 
lars in the mission funds—not fifty dollars 
now and then, when compelled to it by the 
importunity of one whose heart is larger than 
his own; but fifty dollars yearly, and to be 
paid regularly, whether called upon or not. 
And so should other causes receive their 


A TRUE VIEW. 83 


annual dividends. Above all, there should 
be a contingent fund, to be dispensed as free- 
will offerings when peculiar occasions require. 

We must need keep up our missionary 
meetings, for there always will be a class 
impelled by impulse, who will give when 
waked up; but for the mass of our funds 
we, as a Church, should be enabled to de- 
pend on the system gifts of our benevolent 
members. 

Let us view this subject in another light. 
Preachers of the Gospel are of various tal- 
ents, and the peculiar work of each is a work 
required to be done. One is a revivalist; an- 
other is a good pastoral visitor; while yet 
another is good at righting up the affairs 
of the Church; while yet others have no 
other quality but that of being flaming pulpit 
orators. It were vain to expect every man 
to be perfect in all these things. 

How are these preachers supported? I 
fear too much by impulse. <A preacher comes 
among us; he is just the one we individually 
want. Perhaps our tastes are for oratory; 
he is an orator. We rejoice that, at last, we 
have a popular preacher, and we support him 
well. He fares sumptuously every day. But 
another year there comes along a man of all 
work. He is a good man, but not eloquent. 

3 


34 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


He visits the sick; he puts new life into the 
prayer meetings; he gives interest to the 
class meetings; he, indeed, is a useful man, © 
but the world and we do not happen to see 
it. We want an orator, and pronounce our 
preacher dull; and because he is not popu- 
lar—that is, run after by the gay crowd— 
he fares with Lazarus, eating the crumbs from 
rich men’s tables. If the preacher does not 
fill owr eye, no matter how holy, no matter 
how useful, no matter how abundant in labors, 
we pass him by, give him, perhaps, not a dol- 
lar, and hope to be better suited another year. 

Clark-Streeters, do you remember a Cun- 
ningham? ‘And where is your orator of the 
year following? 

As I have said, each preacher has his pe- 
culiar sphere; and who shall say the worker 
is not as useful as the orator? Each God- 
called man has capacities that fit him for 
some portion of the work of the great har- 
vest; each one labors for the Church; each 
does good among us in the society, though 
he may not be a special benefit to us individ- 
ually. Every one of these ministers of God 
should fare well. at our hands. In such a 
case it might be well to number the persons 
the preacher must depend upon for a sup- 
port; then compare your means with the 


A TRUE VIEW. 35 


means of others, and decide how much you 
ought to pay yearly—yes, yearly: not so 
much to the popular preacher, and none to 
the worker, but a regular amount yearly to 
the man who serves you in the bonds of the 
Gospel. You will find, for instance, that five 
or ten dollars a member will meet your preach- 
er’s claim; then you will remember the wid- 
ows that have but mites to give, and the 
children who may give but twenty-five cents, 
and the number who are worth only mills 
where you are worth dollars. Then, in this 
view of the case, make your calculations, and 
give as God hath prospered you, never meas- 
uring yourself by your poorer brethren. 

However much we, as Americans, may 
boast over the English, and turn Know-Noth- 
ings, we must yield the palm to them in the 
matter of systematic benevolence. The Hng- 
lish—especially the Wesleyans—are far ahead 
of us in their acts of beneficence. Poor as 
they are, or rich as they may be, they are 
always at their post on quarterage day. 

In our own Fredonia many a traveling 
preacher will finish his year with half a sup- 
port, while on English circuits this is seldom 
the case. The Wesleyan preacher as much 
expects to receive his yearly allowance as any 
laborer in our land expects his monthly pay. 


36 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


Not so with our itinerants: they live in hope 
and fear, and often go into the pulpit—as I 
have done—with hearts burdened with sor- 
row on account of straitened circumstances. 
Whence comes this difference? It is found 
in the fact, that each Wesleyan expects to 
pay his ‘‘quarterage’’ as much as he expects 
to pay his rent. Before each quarterly meet- 
ing tickets are distributed to each member 
of every class, and every person expects to 
pay something quarterly as much as he ex- 
pects to get his ticket. This is not done from 
compulsion; but the people seem to have a 
moral sense of duty so deep that they always 
come up to the mark. And if there happens 
to be a poor member in the class that can 
not pay his portion, his brethren who have 
means come to his aid, and before he knows 
it his hand is filled with shillings for quar- 
terage. 

I consider the support of the Gospel min- 
istry to be one of the important causes of 
Christian benevolence; and, as Methodists, we 
need in many places a reform in this matter. 

Does not the system of pew-renting take 
from members too much responsibility in mat- 
ters of giving? or, at least, where pews are 
rented, should there not be a regular system 
of gifts to the missionary cause, that the 


A TRUE VIEW. 37 


members may be trained up in the way of 
contributing. 

I was a member for four years at one time 
of a city Church, where there was never a 
request for money, except in a popular way 
in public meetings. ‘That same Church has 
since adopted a system of class collections for 
the mission cause; and where formerly they 
collected from the Church but twenty or 
thirty dollars, now the Church reports from 
five to six hundred dollars yearly: 1854 the 
amount raised was six hundred and sixty dol- 
lars; in 1855 they reported one thousand 
dollars. Well done for Clark-Street! 

What we need is a system of training upon 
this subject. Upon stewards and class-leaders 
falls a heavy responsibility. Is it not the 
duty of the class-leader to see that his mem- 
bers abound in good works as well as in 
grace? Indeed, the first classes were insti- 
tuted to raise means for the furtherance of 
the cause of God. The class-leader uses 
every means that his members may grow in 
grace and in the knowledge of God. This 
is as it should be; but should he not go forth 
and strive to train up those committed to his 
charge in Christian liberality ? 

A reform in our whole system of giving 
should be brought about. This reform should 


88 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


commence in the Sunday school, where a per- 
son should be appointed to receive monthly 
the contributions of pennies from the little 
ones for the missionary cause. It should go 
into the family, where the father should in- 
sist—as a friend of mine does—that every 
one of his children should pay something 
quarterly for the support of the preacher. 
It should go into the class-room, where the 
leader, or a person appointed, should re- 
ceive monthly contributions to aid in any 
work most needed. Thus commencing as a 
rill in the classes of the Sunday school, it 
will become a stream, steady and sure, among 
the classes of the Church. Such a Church, 
working in the Sabbath school and class 
meetings, would be a permanent pillar of sup- 
port for the mission cause. 

The Church I mentioned above raised, 
twelve years ago, two hundred dollars mis- 
sionary money in her Sabbath school, while 
the Church proper raised but twenty or thirty. 
Little Mary C.—now Mrs. B.—as missionary 
collector, raised twenty-seven dollars of this 
two hundred in one month. Now those Sab- 
bath school children are the active members 
of the Church, and the Church raises her 
thousand dollars a year. So it must be 
every-where, if this wheel be but set in mo- 


A TRUE VIEW. 39 


tion. The children will start it, and, lke 
an avalanche, the benevolence of the Church 
will gather power as it progresses toward the 
desired goal. 


40 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


CHAPTER LV. 


EXAMPLES OF BENEVOLENCE. 


Hopina the attention of the reader is 
called to the subject, I will cite some exam- 
ples of giving that may serve him as pat- 
terns, by which to mold his own plan of be- 
nevolence. Every man can not equal the 
higher examples given; but all can do in 
small things what others have done in greater. 

John Wesley, the father of Methodism, not 
only gave himself to the work, but all his 
income. ‘“‘He remarked in early life that 
he had known but four men who had not 
declined in religion by becoming wealthy. 
Later in life he corrected the remark, and 
made no exception. When his own income 
was one hundred and forty-five dollars a year, 
he gave away ten dollars of it. When it was 
three hundred dollars, he still confined his ex- 
penses to one hundred and thirty-five dollars, 
and gave away the rest; and so when he re- 
ceived six hundred dollars, he still lived on 
his old allowance. Besides giving himself 
wholly to the public good, and laboring as 


EXAMPLES OF BENEVOLENCE. 41 


devotedly as any other man of modern times 
for the moral- welfare of the poor, he gave 
away, it is computed, more than a hundred 
thousand dollars, the proceeds of his publica- 
tions. The last entry in his private journal 
runs thus: ‘For upward of eighty-six years 
I have kept my accounts exactly; I will not 
attempt it any longer, being satisfied with the 
conviction that I save all I can and give all I 
can—that is, all I have.’ ”’ 

Here is the plan of N. R. Cobb, a Baptist 
merchant of Boston: 

“By the grace of God, I will never be 
worth more than fifty thousand dollars. By 
the grace of God, I will give one-fourth of 
the profits of my business to charitable and 
religious uses. If ever I am worth twenty 
thousand dollars, I will give one-half of my 
net profits; and if ever 1 am worth thirty 
thousand dollars, I will give three-fourths; 
and the whole after fifty thousand dollars. 
So help me God, or give to a more faithful 
steward, and set me aside.” 

To this covenant Mr. Cobb faithfully ad- 
hered till his death. At one time, finding 
that his property had increased beyond fifty 
thousand dollars, he at once devoted the sur- 
plus—seven thousand, five hundred dollars—to 
a good cause. ‘The secret spring of motive 


42 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


with him was religious principle. It was the 
fruit of the Holy Spirit. He did not wait, 
as some do, till he had become rich before he 
began to give; but while he was compara- 
tively poor and newly established in business, 
he gave one-fourth of his proceeds. He made 
good use of what he had, and God added 
abundantly to his store. Above all, he re- 
solved to have the disposal of his own alms— 
not leaving hoarded wealth for administrators 
to be charitable with! 

I once knew a poor apprentice boy, who 
received but forty dollars a year, and gave 
six per cent. of this forty to religious pur- 
poses: he did not give of his profits, but of 
his income. 

Some years ago Mr. Samuel Goodell, of Ver- 
mont, became an example of giving. When 
the Board of Missions began its operations, 
Mr. Goodell did not wait for an agent to visit 
him, but sent a message more than fifty miles 
to a member of the Board, saying that he 
wished to subscribe five hundred dollars for 
immediate use, and one thousand for a perma- 
nent fund. He paid a part of the subscrip- 
tion down, and interest on the remainder till 
it was all paid. 

Dr. Watts, the sweet psalmist, gave away 
one-fifth of his income. Baxter, Doddridge, 


EXAMPLES OF BENEVOLENCE. 43 


Dr. Hammond, and Chief Justice Hale one- 
tenth. 

‘An anonymous writer says of himself, 
that he commenced business and prosecuted 
it in the usual way, till he lost nine hundred 
dollars, which was all he was worth, and 
found himself eleven hundred dollars in debt. 
Being led by his trials, through God’s grace, 
to Christ, he, at the age of forty, determined 
to take God’s word as his guide in business, 
and consecrated his earnings to the Lord. 
The first year he gave twelve dollars. For 
eighteen years the amount was increased 
twenty-five per cent., and the last year he 
gave eight hundred and fifty dollars; and he 
says he did it easier than he paid the twelve 
dollars. Besides—though with nothing but 
his hands to depend on when he began his 
course—he paid the whole debt of eleven 
hundred dollars with interest, though it took 
him nine years to do it.” 

Another says of himself, “‘T have for many 
years adopted the rule of setting aside a por- 
tion of my income as the ‘Lord hath pros- 
pered me.’ I have felt that more than a 
tenth was my duty, and I can testify to the 
blessed influence of the system.”’ 

Another distinguished giver says: “I fur- 
ther determined, that if at any time my net 


44 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


profits—that is, profits from which clerk hire 
and store expenses had been deducted—should 
exceed five hundred dollars in a month, I 
would give twelve and a half per cent. of it; 
if over seven hundred, fifteen per cent.; if 
over nine hundred, seventeen and a half per 
cent.; if over eleven hundred, twenty per 
cent.; if over thirteen hundred, twenty-two 
and a half per cent.; thus increasing the 
proportion of the whole as God should pros- 
per, till at fifteen hundred I should give 
twenty-five per cent., or three hundred and 
fifty dollars per month. As a capital was of 
the utmost importance to my success in busi- 
ness, | decided not to increase the foregoing 
scale till I had acquired a certain capital, 
after which I would give a quarter of all net 
profits, great or small; and on the acquisition 
of another certain amount of capital, I de- 
cided to give half; and after acquiring what 
I considered would be a full sufficiency of 
capital, then to give the whole of my net 
profits. It is now several years since I adopted 
this plan, and under it I have acquired a hand- 
some capital, and have been prospered beyond 
my most sanguine expectations. Although 
constantly giving, I have never yet touched 
the bottom of my fund, and have been re- 
peatedly surprised to find what large drafts 


EXAMPLES OF BENEVOLENCE. 45 


it could bear. This system has been of great 
advantage to me, enabling me to feel that 
my life is directly employed for God. It has 
afforded me happiness in enabling me to ap- 
portion out the Lord’s money, and has enlisted 
my mind more in the progress of Christ’s 
cause, thus associating the common labors of 
life with the service of the Savior.” 

I might go on thus enumerating these 
cases, but think you, reader, have examples 
enough. But if you wish to know the high- 
est benefactions of any lying man, you will 
find it in the following from an English letter- 
writer. Besides what is here said to be given, 
Mr. Wilkes gives much toward other objects, 
and that, too, by thousands. In 1853 he gave 
five thousand dollars toward a fund for pay- 
ing Church debts. But to the extract: “One 
of the most wonderful instances of Chris- 
tian liberality occurred last week—Novem- 
ber, 1855—in the town of Wolverhampton, 
Staffordshire, England. Mr. Samuel Wilkes, 
a resident of that town, and a member of the 
Wesleyan body there, in the year 1852 prom- 
ised five dollars a day to the Wesleyan Mis- 
sionary Society, which he promptly and faith- 
fully paid. Receiving manifest tokens of 
divine approval in his secular affairs, he prom- 
ised for the present year—1853—thirty-five 


46 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


dollars a day; and last week, at the Public 
Missionary meeting at Wolverhampton, he en- 
gaged to give, should God spare his life, the 
marvelous sum of two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars a day for the year 1854.” 

I have a friend whose rule is to contribute 
to good objects a certain per cent. of his 
yearly income; and as his business is job- 
work, and of an irregular nature, when he 
goes into any undertaking he promises the 
Lord a portion of the profits. By so doing 
he often finds a large quantity of the Lord’s 
money in his hands to be disposed of, and 
he says his greatest happiness consists in dis- 
pensing these funds of the Lord which are 
in his hands from time to time. 


MOTIVES TO BENEVOLENCE. 47 


CHAPTER Y. 


MOTIVES TO BENEVOLENCE. 


In the Scriptures we are warned against 
the corrupting influence of riches. It is the 
wrong use made of money that does the mis- 
chief. Hoarded wealth, or wealth one may 
have set his heart upon, will prove an ac- 
cursed snare. But property may be used to 
advance our eternal interests; and this would 
be the case could we feel that we are stewards. 
A ship would do poor work at sailing without 
the buoyant waters. They support the vessel 
as she sails on her way. But let the vessel 
spring a leak, and the same element that 
bore her up and onward will rush in and 
sink her to the bottom of the sea. So may 
wealth be a means of usefulness and a means 
of enhancing one’s happiness here and in 
heaven. The beggar can not be as useful 
as the man of property. But let the prop- 
erty, or, rather, the love of it, once come in 
upon the soul, and it will drown men in 
perdition. 

In looking at the question of benevolence, 


48 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


much depends upon the point of view from 
which we look upon it. You may place this 
pamphlet, small as it is, before your eyes, 
and shut out the great sun from your sight. 
And often thus does earth—this meager 
earth—dim the light of glory, and shut out 
man’s true relation and his great destiny from 
his eyes. A toy of earth often allures men 
from all that is joyous and glorious. If one 
could get a clear view of heaven, the domes, 
and palaces, and stone structures of this world 
would sink into nothing by the comparison. 

Go with me, reader, to the hour of your 
conversion. You remember your penitent 
groans and your woes. In that dark hour 
you would have given all you possessed for 
oneray of hope. It was total darkness around 
you; and seeing the littleness of earth, in 
that hour you promised that all should be 
the Lord’s; and when at last God spoke 
peace to your soul, and the clouds were gone, 
you exclaimed, ‘“‘Give me Jesus, and you 
may have all the world: give me Jesus!” 
Where now are those earth-renouncing vows, 
that all-absorbing choice of Christ as your 
portion? Are they yet remembered? 

Go again to the dying bed of the sinner. 
He, poor soul, may have treasures upon earth, 
but in the future all is darkness and gloom. 


MOTIVES TO BENEVOLENCE. 49 


The fitful mists of the lower world loom up 
before him. It is, indeed, a mournful hour! 
What would he not give to stand in your 
place among the living? It is now too late 
to indulge these hopes; he is dying, and 
‘‘quite unfurnished for the world to come.” 
Ah! the death-time of man is an honest hour. 
Then the trembling soul views things in their 
true light! 

I knew of a young lady who came to her 
dying bed unprepared to die. She began to 
pray, but the infidel doctor told her all was 
well. Said she in answer, “‘ Doctor, you are 
well, and it will do for you to talk so; but I 
am dying, and must tell the truth.” Yes, 
death’s time is an honest hour, and the con- 
ceptions of the meagerness of earth and the 
glories of heaven which open upon the soul 
are realities. Then man wakes to the true 
state of affairs. Go, Christian, and save sin- 
ners from death-beds so drear and hopeless. 

Now ascend, and stand upon the battle- 
ments of heaven, and look out upon the re- 
deemed as they raise their voices in melodious 
songs in the heavenly world. And as you 
listen, Imagine there is one in that company 
raised to heaven, and crowned with life by 
your instrumentality! What a thrill of joy 
it will give you! He who now stands glo- 


50 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


rified before you was once a sinner exposed 
to the wrath to come; some word from your 
lips, or some missionary sent abroad on the 
wings of your contributions, or some book or 
Bible from your hands, reached his case, and 
he is saved—saved because you did your 
duty! He is a brand plucked from the burn- 
ing by your hand. And remember now that 
immortal spirit is to live on and on, long 
after the ashes of this world have vanished 
away—still swelling the note of grateful 
praise among the elders around the throne. 
All this may be a joyous reality, and not a 
brain fancy. Who, then, will hoard or fool- 
ishly squander earthly treasure, when such 
an eternity of joy may be given to one’s self 
and to others by a proper use of what God 
has given? 

There is a fanciful story that will illustrate 
this point. In Ireland many poor boys get 
an education as charity scholars. A certain 
teacher had, from time to time, these in his 
school, till he had educated seven of them. 
Then he began to grow penurious, and would 
take no more poor scholars. Whereupon he 
had asaddening dream. THe died and went to 
the other world; but there found himself away 
down, with a high precipice between him and 
heaven. LHe strove to surmount this difficulty, 


MOTIVES TO BENEVOLENCE. i | 


but in vain. At last the seven charity schol- 
ars come along, and said that by their aid he 
was to climb to heaven. ‘They then stood 
upon each other’s shoulders, one above an- 
other, and the poor schoolmaster essayed to 
climb the hight up this human ladder. But, 
on arriving at the top, he found there were 
not persons enough to carry him to the top. 
In this dilemma one told him he must go back 
to earth, and educate more of these charity 
scholars, for they should be his means of 
escaping from the pit into heaven. 

I would not teach the idea of salvation by 
works, but in this fancy there is an idea that 
may penetrate the soul, and illustrating the 
relation of duty and destiny. 

Pause once more, and consider what God 
has done for you. He has surrounded you 
with blessings; his loving-kindness is con- 
tinual, free, and new. Above all, look at 
the gift of the great Redeemer. For you 
he stretched his arms upon the cross; for you 
he bled and died; for you he intercedes to-day. 

‘‘ With pitying eyes the Prince of Peace 
Beheld our helpless grief; 


He saw, and, O, amazing love! 
He flew to our relief,’ 


Can you not make some return? If Jesus 
could stoop down from heaven to earth, and 


52 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


endure the cross for you, will you not aid 
in publishing the glad tidings to the world? 

Many have erred by doing their benevolent 
acts upon a dying bed, or through adminis- 
trators after death, instead of appropriating 
their means wisely while living: just as if 
they would fling this, their gold, which they 
can no longer use, as dust to blind the eyes 
of the Almighty. 

A man has a right to retain as much prop- 
erty as will carry on his business and keep 
him comfortably; but men ought to have 
more to say concerning the disposal of their 
means. They ought to enjoy the privilege 
of disposing of their property while living, 
in a manner suited to their own Christian 
tastes, and not leave it at death for others 
to handle. One will feel he is not living in 
vain who has means out in the field doing 
good. A benevolence exhibited in a will is 
well enough for the cause it helps; but it 
seems as if the man has clung to his gold 
as long as possible, yielding it up only in the 
death-groans. He is robbed of the pleasure 
of giving and of seeing the good effects of 
his gifts. 

Again: how often is the property that 
ought to have been used in spreading good 
causes, left to be squandered by godless chil- 


MOTIVES TO BENEVOLENCE. 53 


dren! Reader, I would not add a word 
against your children; but it is too often 
the case that hard-earned gains are turned 
out to curse the world when the gainer is 
gone away. Who can tell whom your sons 
or your daughters may marry? 

I do remember a good man who had an 
only, well-loved daughter. The old man con- 
tinued to work away at his bench through 
cold weather and hot weather, to gain means 
to educate his Mary and make her comfort- 
able in the world. He could hardly spare 
a cent for his own comfort or for a good 
eause. All his hopes, his labors were for 
Mary. Well, Mary married, and the good 
man and his wife went to their long home, 
and in one short year all the hard-earned 
moneys were squandered and gone! How 
much better had the father scattered some of 
this wealth on angels’ wings, to be borne out 
as blessings to the world! I might cite such 
instances as this till your patience would tire. 
Such cases are innumerable; and who, good 
reader, can say it will not be so with your 
children and wealth when you are gone? 

But above all motives—unless we except 
love to God and man—is the prospect of 
reward—the smiles of God and joys of heaven. 
It is a question somewhat difficult to answer, 


a 


54 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


how far our good works will profit us in the 
world to come; but we are assured there is 
a reward for well doing. The parable of the 
talents teaches this. The extent of the future 
glory of those to whom talents are given 
seems to depend on the improvement of the 
talents. We are also exhorted to lay up 
treasures in heaven; and various passages 
of Scripture combine to prove that the man 
who does good—even the giving of a cup of 
cold water—shall receive a reward. What 
the nature of this reward will be we may not 
know fully. It is enough to know that our 
joy will be increased by the good we may do 
here. It is said of the sower that he shall 
return bringing his sheaves with him; and 


‘the thought that souls have been saved through 


our instrumentality will be a joy forever. 
My idea of the matter is this: we are saved 
from the wrath to come, saved from sin and 
hell, and get to heaven by faith in the merits 
of Christ, but by our good deeds we may add 
to our future glory. Through Christ we re- 
ceive a golden crown; but we may add stars 
to that crown—stars which will be souls saved 
by our efforts. The faint-souled, meager Chris- 
tian or the dying penitent sinner may get to 
heaven, and wear a crown, and he himself be 


a dim light in the kingdom; while the useful 


MOTIVES TO BENEVOLENCE. 55 


Christian shall wear a crown all gemmed with 
stars, and he himself be a burning seraph 
around the throne. 

We may get a good idea from the fable of 
the “Desert Island.”” A man was cast ashore 
upon an island, and was at once made king 
of the country. After a time he inquired 
of his prime minister concerning the affairs 
around him. ‘The minister informed him that 
every year a person had been cast upon their 
shores as he had been, and each person had 
reigned as their king for one year. At the 
year’s end all these kings had been trans- 
ported to a desert island, where they had 
perished. 

‘‘ And is there no help for this?’’ inquired 
the king. 

‘Yes,’ answered the minister; ‘all the 
people and wealth of this island are now at 
your disposal. You can use them in fitting 
you a home in the island for your reception 
when your year with us is at an end.” 

Upon this suggestion the king acted. He 
caused the desert island to be planted with 
all manner of fruit-trees, and all things were 
prepared for his comfort. When his year 
ended he had a place of resort far better 
than his kingdom. 

This king is man. He comes into the 


56 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


world, and means—talents and the grace of 
God, all the wealth of heaven—are at his 
disposal. By these he may secure an abiding 
and glorious home when the scenes of time 
with him are over. He may squander his 
time, be a spendthrift of his means, and go 
from earth to the desert of hell! Or he may 
lay up treasure in heaven, that shall await 
him when all these scenes of earth are past. 

May such a lot be yours and mine, dear 
reader! And when all the varying scenes 
of time have faded from the view; when 
writing, giving, preaching, laboring, are past, 
may you and J meet in the kingdom of 
heaven, bringing a plentiful burden of sheaves 
thither from the harvest-field of earth! May 
we rank among the most successful reapers; 
and when the angels, with joy, shall shout the 
harvest-home, may we appear laden with the 
treasure of souls gathered for the great gar- 
ner above! 

The sum of the matter is this: Earth is 
the acting time; heaven the place of reward; 
and the chief business of life is to lay up 
treasures in heaven and to enter the strait 
gate that leadeth to the kingdom. If a man 
has gifts as a ready writer, and these gifts 
swell up the tide of evil, the results will fol- 
low men to the very gates of hell. If any 


MOTIVES TO BENEVOLENCE. 57 


man shall write as a man of genius, and scale 
the summit of fame, he shall fall like an au- 
tumn leaf into the grave, and not one whisper 
of fame’s rapt sound shall ever follow him 
into the other world. But if that pen be em- 
ployed to build up the kingdom of God, it 
shall be rewarded with immortality and eter- 
nal life. 

In like manner the treasures of man, if 
suffered to further ungodly ends, shall come 
up in evil results in eternity like specters, and 
frown upon and witness against their pos- 
sessor throughout everlasting ages. But if 
earth’s treasures are made to serve as pin- 
ions for the angels of mercy and grace, who 
fly in the midst of heaven, having the ever- 
lasting Gospel, happy will he be in the day 
of final retribution who has cast his abund- 
ance into the treasury of the Lord. 

As the young man toils on strong-hearted 
to procure means for the years when age 
shall come upon him; as the husbandman, in 
his commencement, plants his orchards that 
he may eat of the fruits in years to come; 
so should men, in the short years of time, lay 
all under contribution, and bend every nerve 
to prepare for the years of eternity. Fearful, 
O fearful the departure of that man who is 
unfurnished for the world to come! As a 


58 LEFT-HAND POWER OF CHRISTIANITY. 


luminous contrast, what more glorious sight 
this side of heaven than is seen in the cham- 
ber where the good man meets his fate! He 
looks back—that faithful dying man does— 
on the years devoted to the service of God with 
soul-inspiring recollections. All his hopes, 
and aspirations, and actions have been ruled 
into the subservience of religion under a lively 
sense of his accountability. Hence the com- 
ing account must be joyful. 

Steward of the manifold blessings of God, 
wake to your responsibility and the greatness 
of your charge. ‘Thy time is short; the tide 
of time is rolling thee on to a shoreless eter- 
nity; and in such an hour as ye look not 
for it—perchance in the silent night-watches, 
when none but angels listen—thou shalt glide 
into the world of changeless destiny. Happy 
if, when earth recedes and eternity breaks on 
your vision, thou shalt hear the words, “‘ Well 
done, good and faithful servant, enter into 
the joy of thy Lord!” 


THE END. 


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